European Youth’s Diary – Prague
10-19 July 2009
A day by day record of our recent representation in Prague for the European Youth Championships. Makes for interesting reading.
Day 1
We arrived on our Ryanair flight from Birmingham this afternoon. Got to our hotel, where we ditched our bags and set off for a run for 30 mins to get ‘in the mood’. The girls are ready to start the tournament. One more slow jog before breakfast and then we leave for the venue and will practice on arrival.
Day 2
We have drawn Belarus, Georgia and Finland in the group stage. We are looking forward to the three tough matches on offer. First up is Finland at 9am, and with Chloe and Angharad being given the opportunity to impress, it will be a good indicator of our level.
We won the match 3-2 with some good table tennis from both girls. Chloe won the 1st match 3-2 after being 2-0 down. Angharad missed out 3-1 against their number 1 player. The girls pulled together to scrape the doubles win and then it were on to Chloe to finish the match. Unfortunately she couldn’t reach home with a 2-3 loss. Angharad then stepped up to the mark with fantastic 3-1 win and Wales got off to the start we wanted.
Unfortunately that didn’t continue against the strong Belarus side. Charlotte lost 0-3 against the number 15 European ranked Karasiova. Angharad had a battle against their number two player losing 2-3. Our doubles team of Chloe & Angharad lost 1-3 also. Tomorrow Georgia for a possible second place finish in our group.
Day 3
We had a battle against Georgia that we never saw coming. After Finland beat Georgia 3-0 yesterday, the thought we had them at that score also. Chloe was unable to stop their number 1 and lost comfortably 3-0. Charlotte levelled the match with a 3-0 win. I opted for the two lefties of Charlotte/Angharad to combine for the doubles win 3-1. Charlotte then brought down their number 1, and a second place finish in the group, for us. Result 3-1 Wales.
We will rest and later practice for a couple of hours, we now play next Sunday at 3pm. I’m slightly worried that the girls have counted the coffees I have drunk so far – 14!!
Day 4
Today we were drawn against Ukraine and our arch enemies England. Angharad lost 1-3 in her first singles. Charlotte won a close 3-2 to level. Chloe came in with Angharad to come from7-10 down in the doubles 5th end to win 12-10 and 3-2. Feisty Charlotte then produced her best win of the tournament winning 3-2 to win the tie. Result 3-1 Wales.
Day 5
After seeing England beat Ukraine 3-0 last night, we knew it was going to be tough today. It was tough. Charlotte lost 1-3 to Emily Bates. There were two sets which Charlotte lost deuce, which of course could have gone in her favour. Chloe lost 0-3 to Lucy Davidson and never played her best stuff. The doubles was better, but we still went down 1-3. Result – England won 3-0.
The tide is not with us at the moment. Both Charlotte and Angharad lost against Greece and I tried Chloe and Charlotte in the doubles but to no avail. We lost 0-3 to a very good team and we know what we need to do to step up to the level of these teams we have lost to.
Tomorrow is the last match vs. Bulgaria for 23/24 place. We will try to end the tournament on a positive and take the win home with us.
Day 6
It was much more successful day we had today. Angharad & Chloe both came from 0-2 down to win 3-2. Charlotte partnered Angharad in the doubles but we lost 2-3 after having a match point. Chloe then had a real battle but just lost 2-3. So it was up to Angharad to win the very last game of the team event (also 3-2!!). We were the last court to finish having all been 3-2 matches. The last count on coffees was 24!! Almost the total as the girl’s had with their ice-creams....
Wales 3 Bulgaria 2
Overall: Very successful in parts and very encouraging to see their fight and desire to win at this level. Well worth coming to compete and we will be back next year to improve on that position. It is very exciting to see Wales finish above top table tennis nations such as Austria, Ukraine, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain.
Team Placement Finish: 23rd
Players
Chloe Thomas – Won 2 lost 4
Charlotte Carey – Won 4 lost 3
Angharad Phillips – Won 3 lost 4
Doubles – Won 3 lost 4